11.19.2009.

happy anniversary to me!

it has been six months since i woke up for the first time as a boomeranger in my parent's house. on that may summer day i really didn't foresee myself living here for as long as i have. but here i am...still picking up bananas, bread, and half-and-half at the market to bring home to my parents. still fighting for the rights to the downstairs television during that crucial 7-10p.m. time slot. and, miraculously, still happy to be saying "good morning" and "goodnight" to mom and dad. well, happy most of the time.

i wish i had started a mood chart for myself six months ago...it would likely resemble an EKG reading gone haywire. and if i had been enrolled in any type of clinical trial for the past half-year, i would've likely been diagnosed with manic-depressive disorder. "i'm not psychologically unstable!" i would have protested, "just confused, and lonely, and yes, i can become very upset one minute and turn angry the next, but that's normal, right!?" well i can't say for sure. i think the just-out-of-college segment of our population is being ignored. where in the literature can you find fellow twenty-somethings offering their reflections, thoughts, and advice on leaving the college bubble? book after book about "how to craft the perfect resume and land your dream job" just don't cut it. i've read that kind of cookie-cutter crap. they don't talk about how motivation, personal values, and relationships factor into the kind of person we think we want to be and the kind of person we really are. i mean, if you don't already know that you should probably remove your nose ring before attending an interview, then go and buy one of these books. waste your money.

so i basically just spent the last paragraph bashing career-related self-help books. i don't mean to say that there aren't some decent ones out there, i just think they are few and far between. a quality book that comes to mind is the one i have quoted several times in previous entries called, 20 something 20 everything: a quarter-life woman's guide to balance and direction.(sorry dudes). but that is simply not enough. in the coming weeks i am going to make it a personal mission to scour the shelves at borders for anything that speaks to what people my age are going through. if i'm going to make the claim that the literature sucks, i should be able to back it up. besides, i've been meaning to go to the bookstore so that i can read all the latest magazines free of charge...yah, i'm one of those people.